


Endless Asphalt

by IowaGuy1979



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Post-Save Chloe Price Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27972161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IowaGuy1979/pseuds/IowaGuy1979
Summary: The miles are eaten up, under your tires,There's no running, though...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Endless Asphalt

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [On The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723085) by [SufferingIsAChoice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SufferingIsAChoice/pseuds/SufferingIsAChoice). 



It was late at night, as Lindsay sat in the parking lot of the Burger King. She had missed the last bus for the night at the nearby Greyhound station, so she had used some of what little money she had to buy a whopper. Fuck knew when the bus would get here, but, it was a hell of a lot better than staying in her home town back in Ohio. No job, going nowhere, parents that didn’t give a single damn about her.

A pickup that looked like it had been thrown by a tornado rolled to a stop in a space, a few down from where she was sitting.

A girl crawled out, not too much younger than she was. As she walked by, Lindsay noticed her worn, dirty clothes. She was a damn skeleton, as well. A few minutes later, the girl came out with a small brown paper sack. As she walked by again, Lindsay said, “Hey. Where are you headed?”

The girl scowled at her “Why the hell do you want to know?”

“Last bus left for the night. I’ve got some gas money to share. Doesn’t matter where you’re going, I guess. Anywhere is better than sitting in a fucking Burger King parking lot, in Nowhere, Nebraska.”

The girl’s expression turned blank. “How do you know I won’t leave you for dead in a ditch?”

“Compared to how my life is now? I could not even give less of a damn.”

The girl shrugged, and motioned Lindsay to follow.

As they climbed into the car, the girl said “Max.”

“W..what?”

She pointed at herself, “Max”

“Oh. Lindsay”

Max nodded and turned on the truck. Soon they were headed out of town, towards the nearest Interstate exit.

After 20 minutes, Max said “I had a friend who loved that band.” She glanced at Lindsay’s shirt. “Had that same shirt.”

“Yeah, Firewalk is pretty cool.”

Max took a soft breath. “Last time I saw her in it, it was covered in her blood.”

“Wh..what the shit?”, Lindsay said “Are..are you really..?”

Max let out a dark chuckle, “No. I didn’t kill her. She did that herself.”

Lindsay very carefully said nothing.

“We were in some pissant little Montana town. Had the gun out before I could even stop her. Hell of a trick, that.” a dark smirk “Punched her ticket before I could do anything.”

“oh...oh, god”, Lindsay murmured. 

“What about you?”

“Came from Ohio. Dad got laid off of work, then started kicking the shit out of me, probably because he was bored. Mom saw it happen, did nothing. Better being on the streets, so, here I am.”

"From Oregon, originally" Max’s eyes hardened. “No one deserves to be abused. Drunk assholes, beating the shit out of people who can’t fight back.”

After another few hours, Max turned off of the Interstate. They pulled into a gas station, and Max got out. “Gotta piss”, she muttered.

As she was leaving the store, a man dressed in a white dress shirt walked up to her, handing her a small piece of paper. With a shriek of anger, Max punched him in the face. She quickly walked over to the truck, and they were off.

“Asshole was talking about god. The usual shit, ‘save your soul’”

“...nothing can save my fucking soul. The one that deserved to have their soul saved ain’t around anymore.”

“...sorry”, was all Lindsay could say.

They had just gotten into Boise, when Lindsay asked “Why are you going back?”

“No particular reason.”. The look on her face said that the matter was closed.

They had been crossing the street, to a 24 hour pharmacy, when the blue Ford had sped by. Hadn’t even stopped at the red light. It had just barely missed clipping Lindsay.

Max took a deep breath, and held out a wad of money to her. “Go. Go, or this will happen again. Because I kill everyone who’s around me.” Her face became a cloud of anger. “GO!”

The other girl grabbed the money, walking into the pharmacy.

Max turned around, crossed the street and got into Chlo- her truck.

Max stared into the rear view mirror. As she stared, the Nightmare looked back. “...you just can’t stop killing people, can you, Max? Well, not this time, anyway. Don’t worry, there’s always tomorrow.”, her reflection sneered.

“I thought you were done with me after.. after Chloe!”, Max yelled.

“Nope. We’re in this for the long haul. 10-4, good buddy!”, the Nightmare let out a roar of laughter, only to be replaced by Kate’s face. Then Joyce’s. Then Warren’s. She shook her head, and the image became her own again.

As she started the engine, the radio clicked on.

Carefree highway

Let me slip away, on you

Carefree highway

You’ve seen better days

She savagely turned it off.

She had thought about ending it, after Chloe was gone. But, no.

Having the ghosts of all those she killed in her head, for the rest of her life. That’s what she deserved.

She had failed them all, especially Chloe. Chloe, who had been her best friend. Who might have been something more, if they hadn’t have had the smoke of a dead town choking their lungs.

A mile marker that read 20, sped past. One out of how many more, Max didn’t know.

**Author's Note:**

> I read SufferingIsAChoice's story, and the idea of Max traveling back and forth across America, in the aftermath of it all, got to me.
> 
> Carefree Highway is by Gordon Lightfoot


End file.
